Pistes d'exploration

Note the humorous and unusual features, sequence and illustrations of this volume. Work with a partner or group to create a reading guide titled How to Read This Book for placement on the inside front cover.

Debate whether life was better in Roman times or today. Prepare by noting specific examples from the text.

Choose an aspect of Roman life that interests you. Research and write a newspaper article on that topic. Assemble the articles your class has written into a newspaper about ancient Rome. 

Look at both covers and the illustrations. How is the information presented? Talk about the text features: cartoons, dialogue, factoids. How does the page layout help you understand the text?

Choose an aspect of Roman life. Use a similar format to describe life in your own family, school, city, etc.

Make a Venn diagram comparing a typical day in your life with that of a Roman child.

Invent a true-or-false game using fun facts from the book.

Research the Roman Empire. Write another chapter in the same style as the author’s.

Smithsonian History Year by Year, A History of Just About Everything: 180 Events, People and Inventions That Changed the World

Mots-clés

Humour , Non-fiction , comic strips , history , mythology , Rome , short stories

Commentaire descriptif

Meet Dormeo, a dormouse, gladiator, berry nibbler and your own personal guide to “the ups and downs of life” in Ancient Rome. Follow him as he explains how Rome was founded and what life was like for children back then in this humorous, fact-filled overview of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Topics covered include the volatile gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, the birth of Rome, famous (and infamous) emperors and the murder of Julius Caesar. The text is a mix of simple fact-based exposition and lively comic strip dialogue written in colloquial, everyday English to connect with contemporary audiences. Richly visual, each double spread of busy cartoon-style panels is set against a deep royal colour (jewel red, dark blue, forest green) and features a prominent title identifying the main theme (“Festivals,” ”Gladiators”). Readers will get a kick out of the sheepish dormice running along the outer edges of the panels, and the interesting factoids that appear at the bottom of the page (“Some baths could hold more than a thousand people.”) This fun and informative book provides insight into the basics of a rich period in history.